Blogs from Lake Toba, Sumatra, Indonesia, Asia

Location: Inner Sumatra. Date: Millions of years ago. What happened? A catastrophic volcanic blast created basically the largest crater on Earth, which then over time with the help of rivers and rain became Lake Toba! A large island rests in the middle of the lake, laced with jungle, and home to the friendly Batak people who possess a mysterious past... And that's exactly where I'm headed. So, hop on the back on my motorbike as I zip around this rock and unveil its secrets... A Brief Batak History... The ancestors of the Batak people are known to be from Yunan province in China. Legend has it, they arrived in Indonesia by canoe around a thousand years ago or so, and based the style of their houses on the canoe-like shape. Stone Chairs: Just like it sounds. ... read more

Danau Toba Part II This blog is being written on a train to Beijing so bear with us while we figure out where we left off. Pretty sure we told you about our motorcycle trip to the north end of the island so we can pick up after that... After seeing the north end of the island, we had yet another “nothing” day. That means we sat on our porch reading, taking regular swim breaks and not going much farther than our guesthouse or Joe's (a nearby restaurant with killer Chicken ala Batak) for food. With so much time left, we decided we wanted to see more of the island so we rented a motorbike the following day and headed south. Our map had a barely legible written arrow that said “views” so we wanted to ... read more

Our trip from Berastagi to Toba wasn't too bad. We decided to get here by taking public bus which meant 3 cramped vans/buses and a ferry - cramped meaning 15 seaters with 24 people in them leaving standing room only and two people literally hanging out the door! Luckily, all of our bus connection points went extremely smoothly. Whenever we got off one bus, another was waiting to take us to our next destination. In Parapat, the ferry boarding town for Tuk-Tuk, we met a local named Roman who asked where we were headed. We had been recommended a guesthouse by a friend in Berastagi, so we told him MAS Cottages. A huge smile came across his face and he exclaimed “That's where I work!”. When we got to the island he got us some free ... read more

Tuk Tuk is the first village you embark on Samosir Island. Samosir Actually isn't an Island because there is a very little connection with the mainland on the other side. Lake Toba is the biggest lake in Indonesia, formed by a gigantic volcanic eruption around 30.000 to 75.000 years ago. The island Samosir is nearly as big as Singapore, and the lake is up to 450meters deep! This is a part of Batak Kingdom, a people that kept all other tribes and religions out until missionaries started popping up all over the world. They are proud of their history and folklore. Always a guitar within reach. After Skyes and Papas early morning dip in the lake, breakfast with probably the strongest coffee so far. We got ready for the day, until very late none of our ... read more

Yesterday we left Penang. Before this we were on Langkawi a couple of days, unfortunately we didn't post anything on the blog yet. We thought maybe it was time to stop with trying to catch up, because it doesn't seem to work out, instead we get more behind. We left Batu Ferringhi thinking it was time for another adventure. We took a plane and flew to Medan. The flight was very short (1h), even too short for the kids... We stayed one night in Medan 14th floor of a hotel and immediately by arrival we became spectators of an impressive thunderstorm. The electricity of the whole city went, except for the buildings with generators ( we were lucky). We saw the most amazing and longlasting lightning show of our life, just incredible. We were so happy ... read more

“Small but effective” appears to be the unofficial slogan of Danau Toba, an incredibly beautiful lake some 900ft above sea level which is actually the collapsed crater of a long extinct volcano. Yet, there is nothing “small” about Lake Toba! The lake is 450m deep and encircles the Singaporean-sized island of Samosir, and though the local Batak tribes-people may be small of stature they are big of heart and rest assured that they all have a decent set of lungs on them! The Batak people do not consider themselves to be Indonesian despite the country being the birthplace for many of the recent generations. The Bataks were forced to migrate from the mountains of northern Thailand and Burma many hundreds of years ago and as you might expect in the case of displaced people, ... read more

Its funny how someone tells you about somewhere and within a few days you find yourself heading there! Tuc Tuc was a must see place recommended by Dave Fox and within a few days of hearing about it we were on an over night bus from Singapore to Butterworth in Penang (Malaysia) with the intention of getting a ferry over to Medan (Sumatra)! Should have done a bit more research as when we got to Penang after an 11 hour bus ride and a 30 minute ferry crossing we realised we were 13 months too late for the ferry to Sumatra which no longer operated due to either immigration issues, money issues or both! Travelling goes that way sometimes and so we thought we'd check out Penang before getting a plane over to Medan - seemed ... read more